I'm ready to dig up my sweet potatoes. And the vines are so pretty,if I leave a small portion of the potatoe on the vine will I be able to transplant them to a large pot for in house wintering? Any Ideas will be helpful. Karen

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have to leave any part of potato on the vine but could just put the vine in water to root for potting up as a houseplant.

All the cuttings I have started and putting them in water totally escaped me. Thank you for this simple advice. Karen

I have put a stem in a glass of water and it roots. You could grow it all winter in the water as a back up incase your tuber does not survive.

You could use the Forsythe Pot method and root it using vermiculite that way the roots won't be disturbed when you finally plant it outside.
Lot's of 'how-to' instructions online for this method.